Improvement in bail-dredges



- N. A. WILLPAMS.

Improvement in Bail Wedges PatentedJan.2,1872.

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NEHEMIAH A. WILLIAMS, OF WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN BAlL-DREDGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 122,423, dated January 2, 1872.

Specification describing a new and Improved Bail-bred ge, in vented by NEHEMIAH A. VVIL- LIAMS, of Warwick, in the county of Kent and State of Rhode Island.

Figure l is atop view of myimproved dredge. Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view of the same taken through the line 00 00, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

My invention has for its object to furnish an improved dredge for fishermens use in dredging for scallops, oysters, &c., which .shall be simple in construction, convenient in use, and effective in operation, and which shall be free from the objections brought against the ordinary scraper-dredge; and it consistsin the'construction and combination .of the various parts of the dredge, as hereinafter more fully described.

A is a bar or rod bent at the center to form an eye for the attachment of the draw-rope. The arms of the bar A separate from each other -at an .angle, as shown in Fig. l, and are made straight, as shown in Figs. 1 and To the ends of the arms of the bar A are pivoted the' ends of the curved or semicircular knife 13, so

that the said knife may be flat upon the bottom, whether muddy or hard, and whether drawn by a long or short warp-that is to say, at whatever angle the draft may be applied to it. To the rear edge of the semicircular or curved knife B is attached a metallic netting, O, which forms the bottom of the dredge. To the rear and end edges of the metallic netting 0, to the rear parts of the rod A, and to a wire, rod, or cord extending across from and secured to the said rods A, are attached the edges of the twine-netting D. The nettings O D are constructed and arranged in the ordinary manner. With the rear edges of the nettings 0 D is connected a curved wooden bar, E, which serves to keep said nettings extended, and which also serves (and this is its especial object) as a hand-piece for lifting and emptying the dredge into the boat. By this construction the knife 13 will not sink into or gather up the mud in places where the bot-tom is muddy, and in the case of hard and irregular bottoms it does not strike dead against the irregularities, but glides along them, gathering all the shell-fish. The curved knife B also does not sink intothe mud when the draft stops, but lies upon its surface, which is a great advantage, especially in flawy weather. The angular positions of the rods A also part the seagrass and keep it away from the dredge.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- I r 1. The angular rods A and hinged or pivoted curved or semicircular knife 15, in combination with the net-tings (J D, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the curved wooden bar E, with the nettings O l), curved and hingedknife B, and angular rods A, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

.NEHEMIAH A. WILLIAMS.

. Witnesses:-

GEORGE H. WILLIAMS, SAM. W. CLARKE. (143) 

